tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Leafs Learn Valuable Lesson With 4-2 Win

Before last night's Game 2 in Boston, many Leaf fans waited to see what type of effort they would get from their beloved hockey team. There was no question we would learn a lot about Randy Carlyle's team. Well, whatever happens in the rest of this series one thing is clear: the Maple Leafs can play with the Boston Bruins. More importantly, this young Leafs team learned a valuable lesson from Game One: they need to play with urgency and use their speed to be successful.

After Nathan Horton gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead, it would have been easy for this young team to fold on the road. But that didn't happen as the Leafs tied the game on a power play goal from Joffrey Lupul (his first of two goals) and from that point forward the Leafs never trailed again. The Leafs were successful because they used their speed to get out of their own end and provide an aggressive forecheck. They also banged away at the Bruin defense corp, including Zdeno Chara. In the end, it created plenty of odd man rushes which led to a breakaway goal for Phil Kessel which proved to be the game winner. For Kessel, it silenced all of the critics along with the capacity crowd at the TD Garden.

After the Bruins made the score 3-2, James van Riemsdyk scored a beautiful goal that salted the game away. van Riemsdyk continues to use his body to go to the net and his goal was a classic example of that. His first shot was stopped but he kept with it and shoveled the rebound past Tuukka Rask that ended the Bruins hope for a comeback.

The Leaf lineup changes, which many in the media said would be of no consequence, also played a huge part in the Leaf victory. Ryan Hamilton and Matt Frattin were definite factors. Hamilton had two assists and Frattin made a beautiful play setting up Lupul's second goal. These two also delivered many body checks on anyone wearing a Bruin jersey, something that was lacking in Game One. Both of them made an impact.

On the back end, while Jake Gardiner had a couple of miscues that made for some scary moments, his ability to move the puck out of his own end was a big plus for the Leafs. He also made a couple of nice defensive plays, including one on Tyler Seguin. Ryan O'Bryne was very solid and should remain in the lineup. Overall, the Leaf defense corp had a good night and James Reimer was solid in the Leaf net.

Frattin, Hamilton, Nikolai Kulemin, Leo Komorov and Colton Orr did a great job in laying the body on the Bruins and this must continue as the series shifts to Toronto. Like in a prize fight, these body blows soften up the opponent which can lead to scoring chances for the Leafs more skilled players. Mikhail Grabovski, a whipping boy by many, has played very well the last two games. His speed resulted in the van Reimsdyk goal and it is evident that the Bruins can't match it. You have to love the way Grabovski is playing because he continues to get banged around but gets right back up and keeps on going. In fact, last in the third period he went right at Bruin power forward Milan Lucic with a body check deep inside the Bruins zone after he was leveled just minutes before that.

Game 2 has given the Leafs the blueprint for success in this series and in playoff hockey. For the youngest team in the league, this experience is invaluable. Hopefully, they can build on this at the Air Canada Centre on Monday night where you know that the crowd will be electric. Once again, this Leaf team has bounced back from adversity which is not only a good sign for the rest of this series but is also a good sign for the future.